Tuning to low F# or even low C#

[Jono]

I'm thinking of doing a cheap ERB thing with one of my 5 strings, tunning it to F#BEAD or even C#F#BEA. Can anyone recommend string gauges and where to get them from? I'm confident low F# will sound good but I'm not sure about low C#.

Any advice appreciated?

Edited September 7, 2008 by Jono

[Mr. Foxen]

Isn't F# 20hz and the bottom of human hearing range? Gotta be warwick darklord strings for that. I'm having trouble getting much clarity tuned down to A, possibly a longer scale would help. I had Newtone wind me a set from .070 to .145 to tune ADGC, getting a new set in steel, see if they give me some more bite.

[guyl]

I once tuned a d'addario 145 down to low f#. It sounded flabby and rubbish and the large string was too undefined. Reckon you'll need a really long scale to make it work.

Turned out okay though. I bought a couple of pedals for really low noises and attached the redundant 145 string to the anchor on my ship!

[Oversoul]

a 145' gauge is not enough by far. 150' may be OK in a 35" scale, the ideal is a 165' gauge.


Get in touch with Conklin guitars in the USA, they supply bulk strings for ERB tunings, 165 for the F#, 195' for the low C#! They are custom pro steels from SIT.

[Exile252]

[quote name='Oversoul' post='279872' date='Sep 8 2008, 06:00 PM']a 145' gauge is not enough by far. 150' may be OK in a 35" scale, the ideal is a 165' gauge.


Get in touch with Conklin guitars in the USA, they supply bulk strings for ERB tunings, 165 for the F#, 195' for the low C#! They are custom pro steels from SIT.[/quote]

195'! That must be like a steel bar!!

[Jono]

cheers for the advice guys - I'll be ordering myself some darklord strings... pity they don't appear to do them in 5 string sets though.

[Dood]

Sorry for not seeing this thread sooner!

I have been tuning to F# for quite sometime on my Shuker 7 string. I use the Dark Lord F# on the bottom of my usual 6 string bass set and it sounds fine. It's a 175 gauge string, so a fairly hefty string. My bass is a 34" scale.. some would have you believe that a 36" scale is far better for a 175 gauge string tuned to F#.. the 'theory' seems to pan out on paper, but I think it'b be fairly difficult to compare apples to oranges as all basses ound different anyway.

I have read on the web that the C# tuning would require a gauge in the region of 190. Jauquo III-X uses basses tuned to C# and understand he uses similar gauges.

Wouldn't mind trying NewTones again if they were able to wind a 175 as I was very pleased with their diamond strings!

[dub]

Is it hard to distinguish notes when you get as low as F# and below?
Before I got a 5 string I used to tune my E string to D or C for some tunes.
The unexpected result was that the other strings didn't sound as good when the low string was detuned. The lack of tension in the neck really changed the sound of the whole bass. I reckon the more strings the better for tone if you are going that low.
Whales might be the only ones that really appreciate it though.